MUNI BioPharma Hub is growing
In mid-April, the shell of a strategic project – the MUNI BioPharma Hub complex – was completed. As of the 2026/2027 academic year, it will not only become the new home of the Faculty of Pharmacy, but will also serve students and employees of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine and CEITEC. The new building, which will complement the Bohunice campus, will also house the Preclinical Centre and the Centre for Molecular Medicine. The MUNI BioPharma Hub thus represents a key step forward in the field of pharmaceutical education and science. It will not only offer space for high-quality teaching in the field of clinical and pharmaceutical care, but will also enable cutting-edge research and development of new drugs. The faculties are also aware of this, and in August 2025, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine signed a memorandum of cooperation on the establishment of the Preclinical Centre to support biomedical research at MU.
The university celebrated its 106th anniversary
The traditional January celebrations of the founding of Masaryk University were held in the spirit of commemorating 100 years since the university awarded its first honorary doctorate to composer Leoš Janáček. The ceremony began with a recollection of the moment when the composer learned of the award of an honorary doctorate from the young university and ended with a performance of one of his works.
The anniversary of the founding of Masaryk University, which falls on 28 January, when the law establishing the university in Brno was passed, was also commemorated with the awarding of ten MU Silver Medals for significant scientific works, strengthening the university´s importance, deepening cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions, and for contributions to the development of the university. Gold Medals for lifetime contributions to scientific research and the development of Masaryk University were awarded to scientists Petr Dvořák and Ivan Rektor, who have also served in the university's management in the past. On this occasion, Rector Martin Bareš noted that without the personalities, without the people who work for or help the university, Masaryk University would not be the university it is today, it would not have the historical contribution that is reflected in the present and the future.
Doctoral students have a guaranteed income
From September 2025, Masaryk University will guarantee doctoral students in full-time study who study within the standard period and fulfil their study obligations an income of 1.2 times the minimum wage. The university has thus expanded the group of students entitled to this income beyond the scope of the law. From mid-September, students in doctoral programmes can apply for a new doctoral scholarship, the minimum amount of which has been set by the university at CZK 12,000. The income guaranteed by law for the 2025/2026 academic year is CZK 24,960 and consists of a doctoral scholarship and, where applicable, part of the salary for creative work related to the dissertation.
The university has maintained its position in the rankings
In the current THE World University Rankings, Masaryk University ranked 601st–800th for the third time in a row, despite growing competition. It improved its position in 12 out of a total of 18 indicators. It achieved a twenty-place improvement in this year´s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and again finished in the 401–500 range. The so-called Shanghai ranking evaluated over 2,500 institutions and published the top 1,000. Masaryk University improved its score primarily in the indicator of the number of articles published in Nature & Science.
MU saw a slight decline in the QS World University Rankings, where it ranked 430th compared to last year´s 408th place. In the Czech comparison, it is the third best-rated university. Within this ranking, Masaryk University is most successful in the Sustainability, International Students and Employment Outcomes indicators.
The campus came alive in the summer with the Mendel Festival
This year, for the first time, the July Mendel Festival, which commemorates the legacy of Gregor Johann Mendel, the “father of genetics,” was held directly on the premises of Masaryk University. The main festival programme took place on the Bohunice University Campus. The culmination of the 10th annual festival on Saturday, 19 July, transformed the campus into a living laboratory full of discoveries, games and inspiration. Children and adults alike were able to have fun and learn something new. Interesting facts about science and university life were offered at the stands of individual faculties, as well as excursions to selected workplaces and a series of specialist lectures. The cultural programme took place mainly on the stage at the Faculty of Sports Studies, where performances for children were followed by afternoon and evening concerts by several bands and singers. The event attracted over ten thousand visitors, and hundreds more participated in programmes throughout the festival week.
The university recognised quality teaching
High-quality teaching is one of Masaryk University´s priorities, which is reflected not only in its support for teacher training, but also in the public recognition of their work. In line with this approach, the Vice-Rector's Awards for Education and Quality at Masaryk University were presented for the first time at the end of the spring semester for high-quality teaching. The award is given for systematic and thoughtful approach to teaching and was won by seven teachers and one team. The importance of the university as an educational institution is also underlined by a new category within the Rector's Awards for Outstanding Teachers. These can be won by internal MU employees for excellent teaching in the categories of natural sciences and medicine, social sciences and humanities, and economics and informatics. The award is traditionally presented at the beginning of the academic year, and this year it was joined by an award for long-term outstanding teaching in the same categories.
Success in obtaining ERC grants
Computer scientist Jan Křetínský received an ERC Consolidator grant for verifying reliability in the interconnection of artificial intelligence and computer-controlled systems. As part of the project, he and his team are working to verify reliability and design reliable controllers for cyber-physical systems to address not only traditional challenges such as system complexity, but also modern challenges arising from the use of artificial intelligence. Chemist Tomáš Fiala, who returned to the Faculty of Science at MU in the autumn after ten years abroad, has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Thanks to this grant, he can work intensively on elucidating the origins of Parkinson´s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Jiří Macháček from the Faculty of Arts was the first at Masaryk University to receive the prestigious ERC Synergy Grant. It is also the 17th ERC grant for MU. Thanks to the grant, Macháček´s team will focus on researching the development of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, specifically the hitherto little-studied but significant contribution of the broad strata of the general population to the development of post-Roman Europe.
Visit by President Petr Pavel
Masaryk University students received a special gift on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and International Student´s Day – the opportunity to meet with Czech President Petr Pavel. Direct participation in the discussion, during which students could ask President Pavel questions, was decided by a quick “click” competition. President Pavel praised the young generation´s interest in public affairs and people's efforts to make the world a better place. He also promised that this would not be his last visit to Masaryk University.
🌍 Masaryk university in the world
At the forefront of digitising foreign trips
Studying abroad is now a little easier for Masaryk University students. According to the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI), Masaryk University is the best implementer of key Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) digitalisation elements in the Czech Republic. The European Commission has recognised MU as the only university in the Czech Republic to do so. MU has become the champion for the second time, this time for the period 2025–2027. For students and staff, this means even faster, easier and more convenient approval of documents when leaving for an Erasmus+ study stay. Most of the necessary tasks, including signing partnership agreements with other universities, are carried out electronically. All universities in the 27 member states of the European Union and six other non-EU countries must be connected to the EWP network. In total, this represents more than 4,000 universities in Europe.
Inspiration for research in Basel
In mid-September, Masaryk University joined a delegation from the South Moravian Region on a working trip to Switzerland. In Basel, one of Europe's centres for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, representatives of the university visited the prestigious Biozentrum. The visit to this centre, which focuses on molecular and biomedical research, will contribute to the development of spin-off companies and technology transfer at MU. Representatives of Masaryk University learned about the SEAL Therapeutics AG project, a spin-off company developing gene therapy for the treatment of muscular dystrophy, and the NCCR Anti Resist research programme focused on combating antibiotic resistance. For the university, this experience has a direct link to the development of the MUNI BioPharma Hub project. Rector Martin Bareš presented this as the Czechia's response to the need to strengthen society's resilience to civilisational and unexpected health threats.
Mendel's microscope in London
One of the exhibits at the Mendel Museum – Gregor Johann Mendel´s original microscope – will be on display at the Science Museum in London from 24 July to 4 January 2026 as part of the new Future of Food exhibition. The exhibition shows visitors how the ways in which food is grown, produced and consumed are changing and how these changes affect the climate, society and our everyday lives. With more than a hundred objects and installations from around the world, it shows the important role that science and technology play in the search for more sustainable food solutions. Gregor Johann Mendel, the founder of genetics, and one of his original microscopes also play an important role in the exhibition. The instrument, made in 1863 in the Simon Plössl workshop in Vienna, symbolises the beginnings of scientific plant breeding, which Mendel made famous with his legendary experiments with peas. This is the first time the microscope has been exhibited abroad.
Commitment to the restoration of research and education in Ukraine
Masaryk University continues to support Ukraine, which is now in its fourth year of war with Russia. Although there is no end to the conflict in sight, it is already necessary to look for ways to rebuild the country after it ends. Masaryk University is also helping in the area of research and education, coordinating the project Research Infrastructures for the Future of Ukraine: Roadmap for Sustained Growth and Recovery (RIFF) since this year. It is the only project that has succeeded in the competitive call for proposals of the Horizon Europe programme, and 14 partners from Europe and Ukraine are participating in it. Masaryk University is the coordinator of this project, which aims to strengthen the Ukrainian research and innovation system by creating a Ukrainian roadmap for research infrastructures. The first step of the project was an international conference held in September.
Microcertificate system inspires the world
Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Spain, France, Norway, but also Laos and Vietnam are countries whose universities have already obtained information about the unified micro-certificate verification system, which was created at MU less than a year ago. The unique national framework, agreed upon by Czech public universities, is designed so that micro-certificates issued for selected professional courses meet the standards recommended by the European Commission. These electronic certificates attest to the competences acquired and are internationally understandable and recognisable in the Czech Republic and abroad. There is interest in the technical solution, as well as in the analysis of foreign experience in the field of lifelong learning and the completely new approach to the organisation of lifelong learning at MU. One example is the MICRO4ASIA project, in which a team from the Faculty of Economics and Administration is preparing an educational programme for university teachers from Laos and Vietnam. The system was also presented by CEITEC as part of the Alliance4Life international research group.
